Staria twins among latest five-star ANCAP ratings

HYUNDAI’S Staria people carrier and Staria Load commercial van have been awarded a five-star safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP). The duo joins the recently assessed Volkswagen Caddy, BMW iX and Genesis GV70 in achieving a top safety score.

ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg, said the eight-seat Hyundai Staria people mover scored well across all areas of assessment, with full points awarded in the side impact test for both adult and child occupants, and for the driver in both the full width frontal and mobile progressive deformable barrier (MPDB) tests.

She said submarining of the rear passenger’s upper legs was noted in the full width frontal test and deductions were applied, however the vehicle still scored well in this test overall.

“The safety rating for the Hyundai Staria will be well received by families and fleet buyers, with the Staria becoming the third vehicle in the People Mover segment to achieve a five-star safety rating under ANCAP’s 2020-2022 criteria – the most stringent to date,” Ms Hoorweg explained.

ANCAP noted the high level of safety equipment offered in the Hyundai Staria as “comprehensive”, listing head and chest-protecting side airbags, a centre airbag, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), and a lane support system (LSS) among the model’s praiseworthy attributes.

The strong safety equipment levels saw Staria perform well in most of ANCAP’s active safety tests, showing good performance in tests of the AEB car-to-car system, with collisions avoided or mitigated in most scenarios.

ANCAP said the AEB system fitted to the Staria does not respond to vehicles or pedestrians when turning (junction assist) or reversing (back-over) and that child seat anchor points were only fitted to the Staria’s second row. 

Otherwise, the model’s Lane Keep Assist and Emergency Lane Keeping systems showed good capability across a range of scenarios, ANCAP said.

The five-star rating for the Staria also applies to the commercial Staria Load van, with additional data from Hyundai confirming that the same safety performance can be expected from all Staria-Load variants with automatic transmission. 

The Hyundai Staria-Load becomes the first commercial van to score a five-star safety rating under ANCAP’s stringent 2020-2022 test protocols.

“This is a highly-anticipated result for fleets, and a significant step forward from the previous generation vehicle (iLoad) that the Staria Load replaces,” Ms Hoorweg added.

“For so many small businesses and tradespeople their vehicle is their workplace. By providing the full suite of available safety specifications in the Staria Load, Hyundai has shown strong commitment to the safety of Australian and New Zealand road users and we expect this five-star result will be well-received by fleets and commercial buyers.”

Five-star ANCAP safety ratings apply to all variants of the Staria people mover, and all automatic Staria Load van variants.

The Staria joins Volkswagen’s Caddy commercial-based people mover offering in achieving top safety marks, the seven-seater version of the popular LCV scoring well across all areas of assessment and achieving good results in the performance of its lane support system, and most of its AEB car-to-car tests.

ANCAP said its five-star rating applies only to people mover variants of the Caddy and does not apply to the Caddy Cargo van, which is currently unrated.

Like the Staria, the Volkswagen Caddy people mover is equipped with a comprehensive range of safety features and technologies, including a centre airbag designed to provide added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes, and AEB junction assist, where the vehicle can autonomously brake to avoid crashes when turning across the path of an oncoming vehicle, ANCAP said.

"The purpose of people movers is to transport a large number of passengers in a family or business setting, so it's very pleasing to see the safety and design of vehicles in this segment improving," said Ms Hoorweg.

"Volkswagen has made notable safety improvements in the new generation Caddy people mover, compared to the previous model, and should be congratulated for achieving this five-star ANCAP safety rating."

In the medium SUV segment, the electric BMW iX also scored highly across the range of occupant protection and collision avoidance assessment areas. ANCAP said that the iX achieved good results in the side impact test and more severe oblique pole test, and in the AEB car-to-car and vulnerable road user scenarios, with collisions avoided or mitigated in almost all scenarios across a range of speeds.

The iX did however present a higher risk to the occupants of an oncoming vehicle in the frontal offset (MPDB) test, and the maximum penalty was applied.

The iX also performed well in the far side impact tests, with full points awarded for the prevention of excursion (movement towards the other side of the vehicle) in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pole scenarios. In the assessment of Child Occupant Protection, the BMW iX scored full points in both the MPDB and side impact tests.

"ANCAP has now rated 19 fully-electric vehicles, and the BMW iX is the second fully-electric vehicle in the medium SUV segment to be tested under ANCAP's 2020-2022 protocols, our most stringent criteria to date," Ms Hoorweg added.

"BMW have again placed safety as a high priority in their vehicle design and specifications, and the iX results show BMW aren't willing to compromise on safety for an alternative-powered vehicle."

The BMW iX and Genesis GV70 – which also scored five stars in the most recent round of ANCAP testing – are both fitted with an active bonnet, designed to lift the bonnet to provide greater clearance from stiff components in the engine bay if a pedestrian is struck. 

However, protection offered by both vehicles to the pelvis of a pedestrian was poor.

The Genesis GV70, which launched in Australia earlier this year, scored highly, particularly in the assessment areas of Adult Occupant Protection and Safety Assist. All collisions were avoided or mitigated in the AEB car-to-car and Vulnerable Road User scenarios, including AEB junction assist.

The Genesis GV70 features a wide range of safety technology fitted as standard, including a centre airbag, and a fatigue detection system, which monitors steering inputs for patterns which are characteristic of a fatigued or inattentive driver.

In tests of the GV70's Lane Support System, which can reduce head-on and single-vehicle crashes, adequate and good performance was shown across the range of lane keep assist and more critical emergency lane keeping scenarios, ANCAP stated.

"The Genesis GV70 offers a comprehensive range of safety features and solid results across all areas of ANCAP's assessment," Ms Hoorweg concluded.